Starting February 2019: new duty of declaration for emissions from construction products

In January 2018 the German version of European testing standard DIN EN 16516 for determination of emissions into indoor air was published.(see also here) The European standard is valid for construction products being regulated by harmonised standards or by European technical assessments (ETA) and defines the horizontal reference method of assessment of emission into indoor air in terms of CE marking and the connected evalautation of conformity.

As Federal Environment Agency of Germany published many manufacturers of construction products are legally bound from February 1, 2019, to declare VOC emissions of their products in the context of CE Marking. Background are the alloted periods from mandate supplements for harmonised standards. These stipulate the realisation as EN must have taken place one year after publication of the respective CEN TC 351 standards (in this case theEN 16516).

Since June 2016, eco-INSTITUT is listed as horizontal European notified testing body following EN 16516 (before CEN/TS 16516) – s. also here.

Further in February 2018 the publication of German version technical rule DIN CEN/TR 17105 „Construction products – Assessment of release of dangerous substances – Guidance on the use of ecotoxicity tests applied to construction products“ has taken place. The appliance of this is voluntary.